Slave Dragon: Earth Dragons Series: Book4

by Hartnady, Charlene

  Thunder’s face clouded. He looked both angry and nervous. By the sheen of sweat on his brow and his suddenly pale complexion, Coal would definitely say that he was nervous. “I was very angry when I found out about your sister’s pregnancy.”

  “As was I.” Blaze didn’t take his eyes off the male for a second. Their sister, Ruby had been promised to the air king. The deal was that Thunder would take Ruby and in return, Blaze could choose a fertile air princess to mate with. Unfortunately, Ruby had other plans and had become pregnant with a vampire male’s child. They were mated and happy but things were clearly still heated between the fire and air kingdoms. Thunder had not been happy about the news.

  The male in question leaned forward. “I may have made some rash decisions, but you can’t blame me.” Thunder’s eyes were wide and he spoke too quickly.

  Oh no.

  Coal could sense that whatever Thunder was about to say was not going to be good.

  Blaze nodded, urging the other king to continue.

  “I gave my sisters to the earth and the water princes, it …” No wonder the second princes were in attendance. No damned wonder. Coal clenched his hands into fists.

  Blaze slowly stood up. The tic was back and with a vengeance. Blaze banged his hands on the table. “You did what?” His voice was low and deep.

  If what Thunder was saying was true, then there were no more available fertile dragon females left in all four kingdoms. The fire dragons were at risk. Huge risk. Thunder sucked in a deep breath. “I did what I felt was right. There will be humans and they—”

  Blaze threw his head back and roared. At once, the room was engulfed in scorching flames. Chairs crashed and furniture smashed. By the time Blaze was finished, they all had first degree burns. Thunder was missing limbs and only barely alive.

  * * *

  The laundry room was cramped. Clean linen lined the shelved walls. The low hum of washing machines and dryers could be heard in the background. “Room 211 is demanding a clean.” Her supervisor looked at her watch. “You’ve got twenty minutes to get over there and to get it done.”

  Julie had to refrain from rolling her eyes. She pursed her lips together, holding back a choice response. “I was just there. He had a DND sign up,” she finally pushed out. “That’s why I called and asked to be given another room to clean.” As a temp, she only got paid for the rooms she cleaned and then only after one of the managers checked them once they had been returned to the system. If there were any errors in any of the suites, a percentage was deducted from her pay. Julie needed to clean a minimum of sixteen rooms per shift. That gave her an average of twenty-five minutes a room. She couldn’t afford any errors. Literally.

  Callie huffed out a breath, looking irritated. “Well, he’s changed his mind.” She raised her brows. “Now, do you want to keep arguing or should I give this unit to one of the ladies on the next shift?”

  Callie was the best of the bunch. Most of the supervisors treated the temps like slave labor. They got the worst rooms. They had to work like dogs to earn something of an income. It wasn’t fun and it certainly wasn’t fair but Julie had never had it any other way. This was her life. “I’m on it.” She pushed the brake on her trolley and made her way back up the hall.

  “Oh and, Julie,” Callie called after her.

  She turned. “Yeah?”

  “Pack up and clock out when you’re done. I need to fetch Harry from school today so I can’t hang around to wait on you.”

  “No problem.”

  “You sure?”

  “No sweat.” Julie gave a reassuring nod of the head.

  “Okay then,” Callie nodded back.

  Julie continued down the hall. Callie was a single mom. She wasn’t really allowed to leave until everyone had checked out but her life was one big juggling act. Rules sometimes had to be broken. Julie understood that more than most.

  It was a bit of a haul to the staff elevator. Julie walked as fast as the outdated housekeeping trolley would allow. It had one squeaky wheel and if she wasn’t careful the door would open and the amenity drawers would fall out. Every minute she had to work overtime to get this room done would be for free. The hotel only paid for time spent on rooms cleaned within the allotted shift and then only if they were perfect. She sighed.

  By the end of this month, she’d be up to date with her rent and then she could start saving. Julie had moved plenty as a kid. They were all small towns just like Walton Springs. There had to be more. There was a whole world out there to explore. Big cities. Beautiful views. Breathtaking sunsets. So much adventure just waiting. She was done with small time. Done with small towns.

  She’d never flown in an airplane, much less been to another country. Once she saved up enough though, she was leaving. Suddenly the trolley didn’t feel as heavy or the lift so slow. One day … one day soon. She just needed to get out of this hole and ahead enough to be able to save. It was going to happen.

  Julie gave a double knock on the door. Room 211. “Housekeeping,” she announced. There was no answer so she tried again. Maybe the guest had gone out.

  She cracked the door open. “Housekeeping,” she said again before entering with her spray bottle and cloth in hand. The cumbersome trolley stayed in the hallway. It would be a simple matter of returning to it for new supplies such as bedding and amenities when needed.

  “Oh god.” She covered her eyes and backtracked. “I’m so sorry,” she mumbled.

  The guy was middle-aged and not bad-looking. He had an athletic build and salt and pepper hair. He was also as naked as the day he was born. Her cheeks heated. Floor please open up and swallow me whole.

  Why call for housekeeping if you plan on changing just then? Also, when someone announces themselves at the door, respond and ask them to wait.

  “Don’t be silly,” the guy said. “Ignore me, do your thing, I’ll be dressed in a moment. We’re both adults.”

  Damn. Was he a weirdo? He must be. Then again, he had a good body. Well-muscled. She opened her eyes and he was searching in the closet. His ass was … not bad. Not looking! She snapped her head in the opposite direction.

  This was weird. He was far too old for her but he had that whole Richard Gere thing going on. His hair had that just showered look even though it was already halfway through the afternoon. Odd! No, he couldn’t be doing this on purpose. A guy like him could get a date. Surely. Definitely. She relaxed just a smidgen. He was obviously just comfortable in his own skin.

  She was tempted to leave and wait outside. Every minute she stood out there would be money lost though. She needed to get up to date with her rent. If she wasn’t so damned desperate … Julie suppressed a sigh, she ignored him and got to work stripping the bed. She was sure that by the time she looked again he would be dressed or even better, out the door. First she removed the cover from the duvet, then the sheet from the bed and was just removing the first pillowcase when she looked up.

  What the hell!

  A squeaky noise came out of her throat.

  “Keep cleaning,” the guy said looking pinched. His back was to the closed closet door. He wasn’t dressing. He wasn’t even attempting to dress. His hand worked his cock. Up and down. In slow easy strokes. Forget Richard Gere, this guy was a creep with a capital C. Gross!

  “What the hell are you doing?” She sounded pissed. Which was good, because she felt pissed. Her cheeks felt hot and she could hear her heart beating. It was as if the thing was in her ears.

  “Ignore me and keep cleaning. I won’t touch you.” His voice was strained. Of course it was strained. He was getting himself off. His hand was still going. Tug, tug, up and down. Her eyes tracked the movement in a kind of sick fascination.

  “You’re some kind of sicko,” she blurted. “You like watching people clean?” What the hell! Talk about a strange fetish.

  He made a groaning sound that told her she was right on the money. “There’s a hundred bucks on the dresser.” He pointed with his free hand. “It’s yours.
Just clean the room and ignore me.”

  She shook her head. “You are nuts. I’m out of here.” No way! Forget it!

  “Clean the fucking room and take the money or you’ll regret it.” His eyes narrowed and his hand stopped tugging.

  An icy tendril of fear wound itself around her. “I’m not some kind of …” She gritted her teeth. “I refuse to—”

  “I said that I won’t touch you. Clean my room and do it now. It’s what you’re being paid to do. There’s an extra tip in it for you as well.” He glanced at the dresser. “Now be a good little cleaning lady and do your fucking job.”

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